WELCOME TO MAE MUT GARDEN

UPDATE Nov 2018

Mae Mut Garden is looking for a partnership, no investment required, but with a minimum commitment of one year, we offer free housing and potential for independent income generating activities.

Would suit a couple with an interest in simple living and skills that can be readily applied to the site.

There are four rooms in two separate structures, already being used for hospitality and a large common area with a shared kitchen plus a dorm and space and infrastructure suitable for a small campsite,

For a number of years we used the garden for workshops, training courses as well as growing our own food, but we have made a decision to home school our daughter and in the current circumstances we don’t have enough time or continuity to run everything to its full potential.

Mae Mut Garden is a project in self sustainability and community living, started in 2011 on a terraced rice field in Mae Win district, Chiang Mai. In February 2011 the site looked like this.

The seven acre plot is now mainly a food forest, with fruit trees, hardwood trees, perennial vegetables, edible roots, vines and medicinal herbs, using natural farming and permaculture principles. In the photo below, taken last year, Mae Mut Garden is the square(ish) mainly forested plot in the centre of the picture.

The first fruit tree seedlings were planted in the summer of 2011 and now Mae Mut Garden produces fresh fruit all year round, soursop and papaya, mulberry and jackfruit, limes, lemons and strawberries, pineapple and mango, avocado and rambutan, custard apple and jujube, guava and dates, coconut, bananas and much more.

Every year we grow a small crop of organic rice for our own consumption. We use a number of perennial vegetables that form part of our regular diet, as well as cold season annuals like lima and cranberry beans, tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, onions and garlic, during the rainy season we eat various typical tropical vegetables, okra, long beans, corn etc.

four years on

italian tomatoes

Since we started, Mae Mut Garden has become much more than just our home, our small community includes permanent residents and close neighbours and the more transient presence of volunteers, friends, homestay guests and short term visitors. We like it much better like this. New people bring new ideas and fresh perspectives and very often new delicious recipes! We strongly believe that community living is the way forward, both from an environmental and a social perspective, it also happens to be more fun.

guestroom

rice field

making bread

our house

planting onions

P’Hom and Serena

lunchtime

papaya

About 60km SW of Chiang Mai, the Mae Win district has many attractions, beautiful valleys and views, rivers and waterfalls, mountain villages and forest temples. All within easy reach, life cannot be just about work, we try and set aside time to enjoy the nature around us. Come join us for a short time or longer, at this stage of the project we really appreciate having some healthy and strong bodies around….This is an opportunity to experience natural farming techniques and strategies for sustainable living, spend some time in nature and live off the abundance that nature produces.

PS. We are not on any volunteering or work exchange platform, as we prefer to rely on word of mouth. if you have stumbled across this site and liked it, please SHARE it with anyone you think might be interested in this kind of thing. We also have a FB page called Mae Mut Garden. Here you can read about the experiences of some of the recent volunteers and also some reviews from our homestay guests.

mae tian near our house

nam manao

pa daeng

baan huay hoy

khun win

nong tao

Nok and Marco are not only the most friendly people you have ever met, but have also done an incredible job building a beautiful and productive landscape within which they can raise their young child. The time I have spent at Mae Mut Garden has both been extremely inspiring as well as enjoyable and rejuvenating. I recommend anyone interested in getting experience on a mixed-system permaculture farm to spend at least six weeks with Nok and Marco.

It’s been 3 years since Marco completed a Permaculture Design Course with me and the transformation from run down rice paddies to what you see today is truly remarkable. The landscaping of edible plants is a cornucopia of what can be grown in northern Thailand with a rich diversity of species providing fruit all year round. Animal systems, agroforestry and rice production also combine to make this an excellent example of an emerging Food Forest and permaculture in action. It’s not only the physical landscape that is impressive, but also the social aspect of permaculture at play here. Marco and Nok settled into a small remote Thai village and employed local villagers in their development. So rather than ‘preaching’ permaculture to a culture well evolved in the art of self reliance, it was a soft approach in them learning new skills and ideas as they earned a livelihood. The result is their acceptance into the community and the potential for future conversations if times and circumstances change.

In all my travels I have never encountered another place that so perfectly captures the essence of what it means to live a harmonious life on this earth. A concrete example of human potential, Mae Mut Garden has become a place of unique inspiration for me, a clear reminder that life can be simple, peaceful and restorative. Whether you seek an authentic experience of the Thai countryside, a vision of how simple life can be, or a look at how permaculture design can seamlessly be integrated with traditional practices, Mae Mut Garden is the place for you.

This is a guy that has obviously given much thought on the design and did the research. He is candid to admit that he has made many mistakes but it is impressive given that it is his first time doing it. Food forests at different stages, impressive buildings built naturally, water storage, farm economics, and more. If ever I were to have my own farm, I would design it quite similar to Maemut Garden.

Marco and Nok–It looks very, very lovely and we so look forward to visiting sometime. I love the curved roof especially–that too makes it seem like a piece of permaculture. It was nice to spend a little time together on Koh Samed! Sarah Conover and Doug Robnett and btw our son”s name is Nathan Robnett-Conover of course.

Hi. Thanks for liking my About me page. I live in Huai Kaew village 30kms north of Chiang Mai. I have done a lot of home building, renovation and love farming but I’m afraid I don’t have the energy for anything other than organising now. Your place looks great. Maybe we’ll take a drive down there some day soon. regards James

I am a television producer working for major independent production company Optomen Television in London. We are currently producing a new documentary series for Channel 4 in the UK about people who have quit the rat race and moved to live in remote locations the world. It will be an inspirational series following the incredible stories of ordinary people who are living a unique way of life in some of the most beautiful and breath-taking places.

Our research team in London is currently looking for suitable stories to feature in the series and we’re keen to contact people who may be interested in taking part.

I came across your website and I thought I would contact you to see if you can help?

Any help you can provide is much appreciated. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Jackie, thank you for your kind words. Please feel free to share our details with anyone you think would be interested, we are at an early stage in our project and welcome any help and advice. And of course please come and see us if you ever come “up north”. Marco

Wow! What wonderful piece of land, and what a lovely family you are Marco! It looks such a really beautiful project you have in that land. Hope you and your family will enjoy developing it… We’ve been working as volunteers before and that looks like the perfect spot ever!i don’t think you’ll lack volunteers ahahah
You can count on our support 🙂 Best wishes and and good luck
By the way thanks for sharing and like our site, we just started it and we’re kind of novices on it. We’re also developing some natural building workshops in Thailand starting on 8th of December, so if anyone is interested in that topic we’re still open for new enrollments.
Thanks and good luck again!

Thank you very much for your encouragement, we are learning as we go and having a great time of it, well, most of the time….
I would be very interested to meet you and visit you, will email you at your gmail address. Marco

Marco and Nok,
Thank you for your hospitality. Our stay was way too short. We absolutely loved staying in the guest house, sharing meals with everyone, and learning all about your farm. It is inspiring. We sincerely hope to see you again.
Jeff and Leigh Evans

Thank you for your encouragement James. I like your blog very much and admire your writing and photography skills, ours are very basic at best still, but you and others like you inspire us to put some more effort in it, time permitting… Best. Marco